Ugliest Board Game

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'Sodboy13\' post=\'222856\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 12:31 AM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'222835\' date=\'Aug 12 2009, 08:22 PM\'][quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'222833\' date=\'Aug 12 2009, 08:50 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'222755\' date=\'Aug 12 2009, 11:08 AM\']The two strangest examples that immediately come to mind are the obscure Gamut of Games releases for Dealer's Choice (renamed Place Your Bets as a home game) and The Diamond Head Game.[/quote]And wasn't the reason why DC came out as "Place Your Bets" was because there was already a board game out called "Dealers Choice", which in no way was related to the game show?[/quote]
Exactly.
[/quote]
I picked up the "other" Dealer's Choice at a garage sale when I was a kid.  Game was forgettable, but the play money was cool.  Very minimalist and '70s.  I'm sure it's still around my parents' house somewhere.
[/quote]
If not, it's in my den.  I had it as a kid, and bought it again when it became available on eBay -- too bad it's too complicated to explain in the forty-five seconds one usually allots during Game Nights before Pictionary is pulled out for the umpteenth time.  (Other 1970s board games I have that fit that description:  Facts in Five, High Stakes, The Magnificent Race.)  Some of the car descriptions are hilarious.

When I was creating an outline of a game show novel, I pictured the cover art painted by the same guy who did all the MB box cover art in the 1970s.  (I'm not really a good fiction writer, however -- one complete unpublished novel that will likely remain that way.)

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'calliaume\' post=\'222909\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 12:41 PM\']If not, it's in my den.  I had it as a kid, and bought it again when it became available on eBay -- too bad it's too complicated to explain in the forty-five seconds one usually allots during Game Nights before Pictionary is pulled out for the umpteenth time.  (Other 1970s board games I have that fit that description:  Facts in Five[/quote]
Dude, you gotta find a new gaming group.

[pds319]

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'222559\' date=\'Aug 11 2009, 12:15 AM\']I remember being disappointed with the Classic Concentration board game....after seeing the box art, I thought the game inside would be awesome. Alas, no. They still used the roll-o-matic puzzle board, while the UK home version had full color rebuses. The whole set was blue, and there was no variation in color. It was the ugliest letdown I'd ever seen.[/quote]

I just checked my copy (1st Edition) and it must've been a later printing since it has cards and the rebuses are blue, red and purple.

Box
Rebuses

I'll try and dig out my copy of the UK version and get some shots of the full color rebuses.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'pds319\' post=\'222932\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 06:35 PM\']I'll try and dig out my copy of the UK version and get some shots of the full color rebuses.[/quote]
Interestingly, I have a home game from the original UK run of the show (1959-60) which, oddly, has no rebuses at all.  Seriously, that element of the game was completely removed from the home version.  The rules say that the winner is the person with the greater value in prizes after all the matches have been made.

I thought at first that the British TV show adopted that rather weird change, but the ever-reliable UKGameshows assures me otherwise.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'calliaume\' post=\'222909\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 12:41 PM\'](Other 1970s board games I have that fit that description:  Facts in Five,[/quote] Really? I agree with Chris. If the group can't sit still long enough for "use the initials along the top to write down words that fit the categories on the left," maybe it's time to pull up the tent.

The Magnificent Race.

I bought this for the little bowl thing where you twirl it and the marbles spin around the edge until one of them "wins" by falling in the depression. Too bad the game was just awful through and through.

Chucked the game, kept the bowl to see if I could work that into a project at some point.

[Fedya]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'222912\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 04:19 PM\'][quote name=\'calliaume\' post=\'222909\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 12:41 PM\']If not, it's in my den.  I had it as a kid, and bought it again when it became available on eBay -- too bad it's too complicated to explain in the forty-five seconds one usually allots during Game Nights before Pictionary is pulled out for the umpteenth time.  (Other 1970s board games I have that fit that description:  Facts in Five[/quote]
Dude, you gotta find a new gaming group.
[/quote]
They've never heard of Categories?

Then again, those cards with the "(person who has given occupation) of (player selects natoinality)" could be a killer.  :-)

[davemackey]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'222881\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 12:31 PM\']We played the original Family Feud game at a cabin over the weekend. Hands down, that's the ugliest home game of its era. The board apparatus is a mess, the box is just a nightmare, especially with the crabby disgusted older lady on the right. Poor illustration. Just awful.[/quote]
I remember Dawson's comment on seeing the board game box. He was reading the answers off the home game box's board. "Let's see... Robert... Richard... Ronald... these are all people who are on uppers or downers."

[Sodboy13]

[quote name=\'pds319\' post=\'222932\' date=\'Aug 13 2009, 05:35 PM\']I just checked my copy (1st Edition) and it must've been a later printing since it has cards and the rebuses are blue, red and purple.[/quote]

That's the same version I have.

As for the bonus round, well, that was an easy (sorta) fix: I made my own.  Cut out 16 small slips of paper, numbering pairs with 1 through 8.  Took 8 small envelopes, numbered them 1 through 8, and stuffed them with differing amounts of the included play money (I think the range was from $10,000-$20,000).  Lay 'em out as 15 numbers, get a 60-second timer and... go!

Well, not quite.  If you want it to even approach being functional, you'll have to lay the slide numbers on top of the windows, instead of tucking them in.  You'll also have to be pretty quick and efficient with your grabs.  This is probably why they didn't include the bonus round: the design of the board makes a timed exercise quite difficult to pull off.

/also made his own "Take"s with stickers and two of the credit cards from Bargain Hunter
//I'm not the only one here who bought board games at garage sales and resale shops when I was a kid because I saw possibilities in some of the parts, am I?

[The Ol' Guy]

Nope. Just gutted a few dozen games for parts tonight and have a very happy recycle dumpster.
The one problem I have with making games by cannibalizing others is the question material. When you pick up an old cheeser like Weakest Link, you won't have questions on Michael Phelps, current hit songs and movies and the like. Many have enough general questions to get by, but you may find yourself limiting the groups you play with when you need to have people with good enough memories (read:older) to recall performers, media and newsmakers of the 70s, 80s and 90s if you make tv home games calling for specific categories.

[alfonzos]

Not ugly so much as sloppy. I found Endless Games' The Newlywed Game at a thrift store for fifty cents. So, I'm browsing through the question booklet when I find this, "Take a look at the monitor and you'll see snapshots of today's husbands..." Monitor? Can't EG afford a copy editor? Well, at least we know for sure the company uses material from the series!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'alfonzos\' post=\'232464\' date=\'Dec 16 2009, 03:09 PM\']Can't EG afford a copy editor?[/quote]
I know you're familiar with their products, so you already know the answer to this question.